Look through my books of topics or stories might tie in....if nothing then

Look through on-line rhyming dictionaries....if nothing then

Look through my hard copy rhyming dictionary....if nothing then

Read through lyrics of songs unrelated to the topic- this reminds me how the best lyrics are simple and straightforward

Here are some of the books I use
ISBN# 978-0375400810 Reading Lyrics: More Than 1,000 of the Century's Finest Lyrics
ISBN# 978-0375422003 Motown in Love: Lyrics from the Golden Era
ISBN# 978-1437644012 Lyrics by Sting

....if nothing then

Read though lyrics of songs on the same topic ***WARNING*** This is a Pandora's Box for me, sometimes it helps, but sometimes it gets the "other song" stuck in my head

....if nothing then sleep on it. Jot down any ideas that come in the middle of the night and/or first thing in the morning.....and throughout the day

....if nothing then pretty much repeat the same process the next day and the next day and the next. It takes me about 2-3 hours to go through this process.......

.......NOW if I am REALLY stuck by a Saturday night and have nothing, I will have already put 10-15 hours into the attempt to write about the topic.....usually something happens by then, but there have been weeks when nothing came and at the midnight hour, I just forced myself to write the first line of the first verse and keep writing.

Hobson wrote:I think it would be more constructive to try to refine your lyrics a bit before posting. I rarely post the first thing that comes into my head. Write it down and come back to it later to see if it's going to be clear to someone who doesn't start out knowing what the song is about. The comments are likely to be more helpful than just "I don't get it."

andygetch wrote:OK

For whatever it's worth, I don't agree.

I think it can be helpful to get input at many levels of the songwriting process. Maybe some writers are better at generating ideas and others are better at finishing and everything in between.

I think it's fine to even post an idea and ask, "Does anyone have an idea where this could lead?"......so I don't agree the first post has to be a well reworked rough draft.....one's best effort....I see that as potentially limiting to one's creative process.

Take or leave what fits, but don't stop posting!

James

James, thanks for the encouragement. Other life events have me reconsidering my level of participation in online music/songwriting exercises in this hobby. Looking back at 2012, I have posted some forty odd songs/lyrics to the assignments here, and a few dozen more in various other challenges and exercises in local circle, FAWM and 50/90. Written a few dozen songs outside of assignments/challenges in NaSoAlMo, FAWM and 50/90 to complete those goals. There were only a few "assignment/challenges" songs that I liked well enough to learn. Way below the Pete Seeger - 1 in 10 song ideas worth finishing, 1 in 10 finished songs worth playing again - ratios . More often when I saw the titles again my reaction was "oh that one" than . It's not writers block, but lately it has not been fun. So I'm committing to myself to write when it is fun, no longer writing just to please others or to fulfill an assignment.

I found a tool that is helpful to me today. I was trying to figure out a chord progression to a song Pico De Gallo by Trout Fishing in America. A web site called Chordify http://chordify.net/. You enter a recording or a you tube video and it tells you the chords and the measures. It's not always correct but it is incredible.

.....so the formula would be for a happy stable song, use the following:

Lyrical content/message positive
images and concrete details associated with happiness
happy ending to the story/song....or heading in that direction
even number of lines in each section
even/balanced rhyme scheme patterns like AABB or ABAB
perfect rhymes
Lydian (or Ionian) mode

I'm watching further videos as I get time. I have taken a couple song writing classes and workshops including a Lamb's workshop, Old Town School class and Kerrville Songwriters School but no one has ever introduced these concepts.
I

Hey eveyone, you may or may not have noticed I've been missing for a while...circumstances conspired against me. However, you can' t keep a good man down.. hopefully I can squeeze into that category. Ain't going to type the new song lyrics - 42 - out tonight. Not on my phone. Got to pay a visit to the local library in the AM, maybe a couple of revisions...feels good to be writing again, though! All the best

Vic

"Sometimes the beauty of music can help us all find strength to deal with all the curves life can throw us." (D. Hodge.)